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Dependence of stream link lengths and drainage areas on stream order
Author(s) -
Ghosh A. K.,
Scheidegger A. E.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr006i001p00336
Subject(s) - link (geometry) , streams , population , mathematics , order (exchange) , hydrology (agriculture) , geometry , statistics , geology , geotechnical engineering , computer science , combinatorics , computer network , finance , demography , sociology , economics
It has been suggested in the literature that the lengths of interior links (distances along river course between subsequent junctions) in a given river network are independent random variables drawn from the same population. However, the validity of this basic hypothesis with relation to nature had never been investigated. Thus a test was made to find the exact relationship between the stream lengths and the corresponding stream orders by comparing the theoretical length ratios calculated, assuming all link lengths to be equal, and the natural length ratios for rivers with the same number of first order streams. The results show that the link length always has a tendency to increase geometrically with the Strahler order. This leads to the conclusion that a law of link lengths exists that is similar to the well‐known laws of stream orders, stream lengths, and areas. A similar analysis with regard to the areas drained by each link in a river network shows that these areas are constant.